


Shout out to ghosts

by OctopusVulgaris



Series: Achievement Unlocked - Supernatural Abilities AU [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Ghosts, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5694814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctopusVulgaris/pseuds/OctopusVulgaris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was my gift as part of the Ragehappy Secret Santa<br/>Enjoy this raychael ghost story</p><p>"dude, you've been staring at me for the last thirty minutes."</p><p>"no, i've been staring at the ghost behind you."</p><p>"what."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shout out to ghosts

It’s early morning and he can’t sleep.

If Michael wanted to hazard a guess – he’d say that it was about 3 am. Which meant that he’s only gotten about 2 hours of sleep at this point. Though he’s not sure if he’d call it “sleep” as it was really just him lying on his bed and then being forcibly awakened by the realization that there’s a figure in the corner of his room.

The figure - distinctly human shaped though completely translucent – startled him at first but the lack of shadow brought him a strange comfort. People were much easier to deal with once they’ve died. He moved to get out of his bed but the figure vanished in a flash. Instead of falling back asleep, he adjusts his pillows against the headboard and grabs his laptop. He loads up Netflix, thinking he’ll catch up on a show he’s started the other day. He figures that if the ghost comes back, he’ll try to get it out of his apartment, but until then he’ll catch up on some zombies.

When he finishes the first season, the suns coming up but the ghost hasn’t come back. _Ungrateful bastard. See if I spend time sending your ass to the great beyond now asshole._ He yawns and stretches and heads to his bathroom to shower. He looks in the mirror while he brushes his teeth and dear God he looks terrible. He’d say that he looks like a ghost, but that joke will never be funny.

He figures a shot of caffeine will bring him back to life (also not funny) so he dresses and grabs his laptop before heading off to the neighborhood coffee shop.

* * *

 

The coffee shop is a nice place for being in a shithole of a neighborhood. Well, his neighborhood isn’t that much of a shithole, but he’s lived in nicer places and the constant sounds of sirens doesn’t help. It’s right next to an old bookstore that Michael randomly visits. He hasn’t bought anything there but the clerk is a nice guy, kinda nerdy but nice.

The coffee shop is bright and cheery and was obviously someone’s idea of trying to spruce up the neighborhood a while back. Crime hasn’t drastically gone down or anything, but it seems like this is the only brightly lit corner for a good four blocks in any direction. So naturally the place is always full. Teenagers, college kids, business men, stay-at-home-moms all stop by to grab something to eat or drink. Michael’s no different because hey the coffee’s better than what he could make at home and the staff is cheerful and entertaining.

He makes his way into the line and reaches for his phone in his pocket when he spots something odd. It’s a kid – a teenager really – who’s standing near the front of the line and appears to be shifting back and forth rather abruptly. That combined with the pallor of their skin and Michael can easily peg them as a ghost. He’s mildly surprised that there’d be a ghost in this café at all but he figures that the ghost must be anchored to some building nearby and so he doesn’t think too much of it. Until the ghost starts taunting him.

“Hey! You with the hoodie! You can see me right?!” The voice isn’t particularly loud (louder than necessary no doubt) but the quality of the voice is like grating a lead pipe with a cheese grater. Michael shoots a glare at the kid but directs his attention back towards the front of the line. He attempts to tune the kid out, but luck isn’t on his side today. “I know you can hear me, asshole! Say something dammit!” Michael sticks his tongue out in the direction of the kid before making his way up to the counter to place his order.

The guy at the register is cute, he notices – with his glasses, dark hair and light beard scruff. His name tag says Ray and Michael figures it suits him in it’s simplicity. “Can I get a vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin?” He pays for his meal and grabs a recently vacated table by the window so he can write his article in peace. He sets up his laptop and glance towards the front counter and the ghost is still there. It looks back at him and tries to make its way over to Michael. Try being the word. The kid steps away from the counter and Michael can see that the ghost starts to become more transparent. The kid takes an immediate step back and looks at its hands, and then turns and runs back through the wall.

Michael goes back to his work and the ghost doesn't reappear.

* * *

 

Michael continues to visit the café and becomes more of a regular. He tries to visit at the same time to catch the cute cashier on his shift. He continues to order a vanilla latte and a muffin and manages to make some small chit chat with the guy. Which is fine except for when the ghost kid shows back up. The kid doesn’t show up every day. But everyday it’s back it’s more a pain in the ass than before. The kid’s knocked over cups, moved washrags, tripped a businessman (granted that guy was super rude and Michael may have laughed when he tripped and spilled his entire coffee on his suit) and hassled Michael in line. Currently the kid is playing with the straws and the stirrers – trying to pick them up instead of just shoving them around and Michael doesn't have an article due today so he’s paying attention to the kid even though he really shouldn’t.

“Dude you’ve been staring at me for the last thirty minutes.” He looks over at Ray, who’s cleaning some tables (and whom he now realizes is totally in his line of sight. Awkward.)

“No. I’ve been staring at the ghost behind you.” For some reason the truth just spilled out instead of him lying as per usual.

“What.” He’s not running away. But he may be in shock.

“They’re making faces at me and I don’t know how I feel about it.”

“What.”

“What?”

“You can see ghosts?” Ray’s face seems to light up a bit.

“Is that too weird?” Michael asks, one hundred percent ready to pack his bag and find a new coffee shop to hang out in. Maybe he’ll hangout in the bookstore and talk to Haywood all day.

“Just weird enough probably.” _Great, he doesn't think you’re batshit insane. Or maybe he’s also batshit insane._ “So do you see a whole bunch of ghosts or just this one kid?”

“I wouldn't say a whole bunch. They’re not just scattered about the street.

“That’s cool.” _No, he’s crazy. God, how can he be cute and crazy?_

“Ghosts aren’t cool.”

“Super rude. You probably just haven’t met the right ghost yet.

“What like I can put out an ad seeking cool ghosts to hangout with?”

“You ever try?”

“No. That’s fucking stupid. Plus ghosts can’t hold game controllers.”

“Wow, suddenly every ghost is really lame.”

“No shit.”

“X-Box or Playstation?”

“Both. I write articles for Rooster Teeth. The gaming magazine.”

“That’s totally cool. I always used to look at Rooster Teeth when I worked at game stop.”

“Oh so you game.”

“Definitely.”

“What’s your favorite game?”

“Call of Duty. But that may just be because a new one’s come out. What about you?”

“I like G-” CRASH. Michael and Ray flinch back from the counter as glass goes everywhere. What was once the tip jar is now scattered bits of loose change and dollars mixed with glass shards. They look towards the front window and there’s no sign of any kind of shooting.

“Shit! Let me get a broom.” Ray runs to the back and Michael looks from the counter and over to the side to see the outstretched hand of the ghost kid. The ghost kid has a shocked look on their face. Their eyes meet and Michael can see fear in the kid’s eyes before the kid quickly vanishes. “Dude, are you okay?”

“Hm?” Ray’s back with a broom and dust pan and staring at him oddly.

“You’re just staring at nothing.”

“The ghost kid was here,” Michael explains, stepping back so as not to be in Ray’s way.

“So there’s a ghost kid that’s haunting the coffee shop?”

“I don't think they’re haunting the coffee shop. They’re just tethered somewhere near the coffee shop. The kid comes here because it’s not a shithole like everywhere else in this town.”

“So can you, like, get rid of it?”

“I can’t do any exorcisms or anything. I’m not a fucking priest."

“So they’re stuck here.”

“I didn’t say that. I mean they have to want to leave.”

“So can you convince them to leave? Because I’d prefer it if there wasn’t another exploding glass incident.”

“They’re gone right now. But maybe when they come back.”

* * *

Over the course of the next two weeks, the ghost fails to return. Which is a relief to Michael. He doesn't need the added stress of babysitting a ghost kid. Also now he can talk to Ray without worry of more interruptions. Though today could be a better day.

“Wow, dude, you look like death warmed over.”

“That’s not even close to being funny.” But Ray’s not wrong. Michael got about 2 hours of sleep after his laptop updated in the middle of him sending in his article and he lost all of his work for the past week. He stayed up emailing his boss and trying to recreate the article as best as he could. It’s no Pulitzer Prize winner, but he’s sure that it wouldn’t put him on probation. He’s a hundred percent sure that there’re bags under his eyes. And honestly he just wants to go back to bed.

“Just the coffee today.”

“You got it.” It doesn’t take long for Ray to make his latte and soon he has a cup full of hot delicious caffeine in his hands.

“So,” Ray starts. “I think there’s a ghost in my apartment."

“Are you sure?” Michael asks between sips of coffee.

“I don’t know! I can’t see ghosts.”

“Then how do you know?”

“Because it fucks with my stuff.” Michael pauses to look at Ray and the man does seem a little flustered. The ghost is probably really freaking him out. “Can you just come over and check it out?”

“Yeah, sure. When does your shift end?”

“In like five hours.”

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

“Okay, cool.” Michael finishes his coffee and heads back to his apartment to take a nap. He sets an alarm and tries to rest. But for some reason he’s nervous about later. It’s not like he’s never sent a ghost away before. But he doesn’t know if this ghost is malicious and what if he gets hurt or Ray gets hurts? He’d hate it if Ray got injured because of his dumb sixth sense. At this point he’s almost too wound up to sleep so he tries to relax back onto his bed.

Michael’s woken by his alarm blaring and he figures that he has enough time to freshen up a bit before he has to meet Ray. He changes hoodies, grabs his keys and heads back to the coffee shop. “Hey you ready?” He asks when he sees Ray.

“Yeah. Just let me hang up this apron.” And once Ray is done, the head down a familiar route. They pass the time talking about video games and movies until they end up in a familiar building. What are the chances?

“Dude you live here?” Michael asks, following Ray up the stairs.

“Yeah it’s not that great. But it has hot water.”

“What floor do you live on?”

“Three. Why?”

“I live on the fourth floor.”

“No fucking way,” Ray stops walking as he starts laughing and Michael can feel his face heating up from the sound.

“Yeah, what are the fucking chances right?” Ray sobers up enough to lead them the rest of the way to his apartment.

“This is amazing. Though I’m glad we met while I was at work and not while I’m getting the mail in my boxers.”

“Yeah, that’d be bad for you.”

“Okay so this is Casa de Ray,” Ray says, flicking the light on. The apartment layout is the exact same as Michaels, but he can see that Ray definitely uses his living room area what with all of the games cases.

“Holy shit dude,” Michael says, heading towards the stacks of games. He’s kinda jealous and amazed at it all. And he even had the new Gears of War of game, which Michael was still waiting to get sent to him.

“Yeah it’s kind of an intense hobby,” Ray says hesitantly. That’s when Michael remembers why he’s here and pulls himself back so he can look for the ghost.

“Okay, so where did you see the ghost?”

“Uh well, ya see, funny story -”

“Oh there it is.” And there in the middle of the kitchen unit is the ghost. Michael notes that this ghost is the same one that visits his apartment sometimes. Maybe he’ll stay around long enough to talk. “Hey dude. You can’t hang out here.”

“But where am I meant to go? What do I do now that I’m dead?” The ghost looks scared and overwhelmed and Michael tries to remain calm.

“You have to move on dude. Just detach yourself from this apartment and go somewhere. It doesn’t have to be heaven or the great beyond or whatever. You can travel the world and maybe find your purpose or what your missing elsewhere. But you can’t be here freaking out people.”

“Is it easy to detach myself from this place? This city’s all I’ve ever known?"

“I can’t figure that out for you dude, but I know that hanging around this place can’t be all that great. Maybe you have family you haven’t seen and that’ll send you off on your way.” The ghost pauses for a minute before replying.

“Maybe you’re right. Okay. I’ll try to move on. Thank you.”

“No problem.” The ghost slowly fades away into nothingness. “Okay. He’s gone.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, getting ghosts to go away isn’t like rocket science. But it’s hit or miss most times.”

“I just can’t believe there was a fucking ghost here.”

“Yeah he was hanging around my place too so I’m not surprised that he’d bug you too.”

“No. I made that up.”

“What?”

“I made up the ghost thing this morning so we could hang out.”

“You made up a ghost sighting so I’d come over to your place?” It’s the most absurd thing that Michael has ever heard and he can feel the corners of his mouth lifting.

“Yeah. There wasn’t supposed to be a ghost and I’d invite you over and we’d play Halo instead and order pizza maybe.”

“Oh my god.” Michael can hardly believe that he was asked to check out a ghost as a date. He can’t stop smiling and he knows he’s red from blushing.

“You could have just said ‘Hey wanna hangout after work’?”

“Yeah, but the ghost seemed like a good excuse.” Ray’s blushing and smiling too and Michael doesn’t think he’s ever felt better.

“You’re a fucking idiot. Get your Xbox I’m gonna beat your ass in Halo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Taking prompts @ cock-biters.tumblr.com


End file.
